Fake just got real
by Happilyeverfter
Summary: Every couple finds love differently. For Katie and Travis, it took some fake dating for them to figure their feelings out


"C'mon Katie, at least consider it. How bad can it be" Travis Stoll continued to whine to Katie Gardener, who was gardening. Or trying to garden anyway.

She had just come from breakfast and decided to get a little gardening in since she was free for the morning. Apparently, this was impossible with Travis around.

He had been standing there for ten minutes, forty seven seconds and three milliseconds, but hey, who's counting. Trying to get her to play along with his 'ingenious mastermindical' (Travis's words not mine) plan.

Now, dear reader, you might just want to know what Travis was whining for ten minutes about. And you know what, I'm feeling generous today, so I guess I'll tell you.

So Travis here was a play boy and one the most wanted guys at camp for that. What, with his soft brown curls and 'dazzling' blue eyes, practically every girl was on top of him. He got new girlfriends at the rate girls got new shoes. By that, I mean he had a new one by every two to three days.

Then there was this one girl who was different from the rest. She was unlike any other girl Travis had dated. And no, unfortunately, her name was not Katie Gardener. In case you think that's what the love story's about.

This girl, Isler, one of the most wanted girls at camp, was only different because she was the one who dumped Travis. Every other girl he, would date and dump like that. This one, went and dumped him before he got the chance to do it to her. And she dumped him for some Apollo guy, Mason, I think.

She herself was, of course, an Aphrodite girl. Typical bleached blonde hair and 'sparkly' blue eyes. The usual. And what did she tell Travis when dumping him.

Some life quote that was probably supposed to be romantic and sentimental. And probably meant to make Travis leave his player ways and try and find 'true love'. Every Prince has a princess, but I'm not yours. She said that and left.

Obviously she wasn't his 'princess' Travis thought haughtily. He was going to dump her tomorrow anyways. So he didn't feel the tiniest bit of sorrow on her leave. It wasn't like he actually liked the girl. She was just the 'girl of the week'. Or in his case, the girl of these three days.

But Travis was embarrassed. And angry. Who did this Isler think she was, dumping him instead and being dumped by him herself. And now people knew and they were talking.

Travis's social status was at risk. This was practically a life or death situation. (Sarcasm). He was gonna get a new girlfriend, be all boyfriend-y with her in front of Isler, and make that girl jealous. He had already formed the perfect plan in his twisted little (emphasis on little) brain.

This brings us back to the beginning of this story, where Travis was being a butt and Katie was trying to garden. And he wouldn't let her until or unless she agreed to agree to help him.

Katie stopped her gardening for a minute to look at the he devil next to her. "Travis" she said slowly. "I. Will. Not. Be. Your. Girlfriend" she said each word with a poke at his chest. And then added, "fake or real".

"Katie. Please just give it a shot. I really need your help with this. Come on. Please please please?" He pleaded like a toddler begging for ice cream. Travis and toddlers had a lot in common. Like their IQ levels.

"No" the girl in question said simply. "Besides, why would you want me of all people to be your fake girlfriend? Huh? Aren't there, like, dozens of 'hot' girls who desperately want the 'rare opportunity' to be with you".

Travis seemed to stop and think about this for a second. "Well, Katie Kat, your one of my dozens of fangirls and you're the lucky one cuz I pick you" he said with a grin and a wink.

"And you're the unlucky one cuz I said no" Katie mimicked him with her arms folded. "Now go away and let me be". Travis sat down beside her stubbornly. "No. And I'll follow you everywhere and annoy you in anything you do until you agree to help me".

Travis stuck to his word. Wherever Katie went, Travis was sure to be right behind her. He drove her mad with his constant pestering and non stop annoyinness. Finally she cracked.

"Fine!" She exclaimed. "I'll do it. But promise to never show your ugly face to me again after that. You hear me." Travis grinned in victory and then laughed, "we both know how much you'll miss my extremely handsome face, but fine, I'll only show it when necessary". And the deal was sealed.

The next day, news of Katie and Travis had already reached the tree nymphs on the other side of camp. Everyone was talking about it. Katie siblings just stared at her in shock and disbelief.

"Don't you, like, hate him or something. I mean he's always pranking our cabin with his sorry excuse for a brother" her half sister Miranda said. Katie just grimaced and walked away. "Oh, you have no idea how much I feel for this relationship".

They were taking small steps since this was Katie's first relationship. In the first few days, there was no physical contact. Then they started holding hands and stuff in public. Said lovey dovey stuff to each other every now and then. And Travis made sure to act it up in front of Isler.

A lot of boys who'd wanted to ask Katie out, but were too scared to, were shocked that she had agreed to go out with the playboy Travis of all people. They did not see that one coming.

It was time for the campfire now, so everyone had gathered around with their marshmallows in hand. Travis had made sure to sit extra close to Katie and casually put his arm around her, pulling her closer. She had to admit, she liked the warmth he emitted.

Isler watched from across the with a sour expression on her face. Who did this Katie girl think she was, swooping in and stealing Travis from her. He was supposed to be heartbroken over their breakup. Not be in a new relationship already.

Two days later, Katie was on her knees in the strawberry patch, peacefully gardening away, when she was rudely interrupted by her dear 'boy friend'. "Whadda you want" she said as a greeting. He pretended to look offended. "I was just here to check up on my girlfriend"

"Fake girlfriend Stoll. Fake. Don't forget that. Fake and real are two very big and completely different words." She reminded him. "So" he changed the subject. "What're you doing?"

"I'm planting the magic beans Jack gave me so that they can turn into a giant bean stalk and I can go steal golden eggs from the mythical goose that belongs to the giants who live above " she said sarcastically.

Travis ignored her sarcasm and decided to annoy her some more. "You're going to steal golden eggs? Looks like I'm rubbing off on you, honey". "Well, dear" she said venomously, "you'd better go before I accidentally strangle you with poison ivy".

" Katie, let's do something. You're always on the ground, doing some sort of dirty work" he said. "You make it sound like I'm doing some sort of evil stuff" she grumbled.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her up. "Come on girlfriend, I'm taking you on a date". Protesting was useless for Katie because Travis had already dragged her all the way to the beach area. No one else was there, surprisingly enough. No it was not a zombie apocalypse

He ran straight into the water. She smiled at his childish antics. "Yeah, you dance in the water and I'm staying here. Comfortable. And dry. Away from any sort of danger". Travis seemed to deflate a bit. " You're no fun Katie Kat"

Katie lay on a beach chair and closed her eyes. It was is peaceful. Wait a minute, it wasn't supposed to be this quite. Again, no, zombies had not come and taken over the people.

Before she knew what was happening, she was lifted up by a pair of (muscular)arms and carried towards the water. (Total cliche moment and I'm so sorry for the Clicheness of it all, but I just had to write about this).

"Travis! Put me down! Now!" She shrieked, playfully slamming her fists on his back, with her upper half on his back and lower half on his front. "No, I'm really enjoying the view here" he said cheekily. "Shut up you..." She didn't have time to finish because she was submerged in water.

Travis then jumped in himself . "You need to cool down Katie". But she didn't answer. Then Travis noticed that she wasn't even there. He looked around and called out, panicked, "Katie!?". He saw the top of her head from a few feet away.

"Katie!" He yelled and dove for her, bringing her coughing and sputtering form to the surface. "Katie are you okay?". She gasped, tears in her eyes because of contact with saltwater. "Can't. Swim" she said between gasps.

He had quickly gotten her to his cabin and wrapped his sweater around her, checking her for any injuries. Once that was settled, the apologies came rolling in. "Gods, Katie, I'm so sorry. I had no idea, and I was so stupid and.."

"Its fine. I'm fine" she tried assuring him. "No, you're not" his face was pale and his eyes no longer held the mischievous glint of before. "I could've killed you. Katie, I'm so sorry." Katie couldn't believe him. She had never seen The Travis Stoll ever serious about anything before.

"Well you didn't kill me. See I'm here, alive and fine. And shockingly, I forgive you. But you have to get me ice cream tomorrow" with that she got up to leave. But before she could, to both of their shock, Travis wrapped her in a tight hug. "I'm sorry"

The next day, they were both back to their old ways. Annoying Travis. Annoyed Katie. It was as if noting ever even happened. But Travis made sure to never throw Katie in to the water again. Lesson learnt.

Over the few weeks they had been 'dating', the two had actually sort of bonded. Spending so much time together, they learnt a lot about each other and even found that they had a few things in common.

Like how they both were probably the only two people on the planet who only liked Oreos if they were dipped in peanut butter. Or how they both couldn't stand pickles. They both liked and hated the strangest same things. For example, Katie learnt that Travis only liked to buy the scented kind of gel pens. And that's exactly what she did.

It was clearly a match made in heaven. Who would've thought, arch enemies Travis Stoll and Katie Gardener of all people would end up understanding each other so well. No one.

Katie would, of course, get quite a few jealous glares from other girls, Aphrodite campers in particular. I mean, Travis was one of the guys every girl wanted to go out with. Well, almost every girl. Katie was another story.

So you could say that now, the two were friends. Yep, they friend zoned each other. As disappointing as it is to all the dear tratie fans (including myself), they were just friends for now. Or were they...

About five in the morning, the whole camp was sleeping peacefully. Except for the two identical figures creeping up to the Demeter cabin with bags full of God knows what in them. Travis being Katie's 'boyfriend' did not restrain him from pranking her cabin. Pranking was his life.

The two twins set to work and within half an hour, the place looked what they would call a beauty. They had spray painted the whole cabin black, and then done some colourful graffiti on top. Then, they had sprinkled a truckload of silly string over that. As a finishing touch, they poured Bird poop over the roof. This was going to be fun.

It was a lovely morning at camp half blood. The Sun was shining, the birds were singing, Katie was screaming at the Stolls. The usual.

"WHAT WERE YOU TWO IMBECILES THINKING!" She yelled at the two, smoke was practically coming out of her ears. "Do you know how long its gonna take to CLEAN THIS MESS UP?!". The twins were standing in front of her, partly scared and partially amused.

Travis spoke up first. "Katie, I think you need some water. You're face is all red and-" he felt her forehead "hot. You should really go get some rest" he said innocently.

"Oh I'll get some rest alright. And while I'm doing that, you two are going to stay here and clean this up. If you move before the cabin is spotless, let's just say that my poison ivy is looking better than ever today".

They spent four days on the cabin, mopping, scrubbing, scraping away constantly, until Katie approved of it and let them go. You'd think she'd go easy on her fake boyfriend, Travis thought with a huff.

Travis had obviously told Conner about the fake relationship. First of all, Conner was his twin and it was impossible for Travis to keep anything from him. Secondly, Travis felt that he just had to tell someone.

So when the two 'lovebirds' were bickering and heard someone come, they completely changed their attitude and switched to dating mode. Travis pretended to play with Travis's hair while Katie fake-giggled. It sounded so wrong coming from her.

"Cut the act guys, it's just me" Conner came into view. Katie glared at Travis accusingly. "What!" He put his hands up defensively. "I can't keep secrets from Conner. He's my twin. Besides, you already knew I would tell him"

"So" Conner started. "I'm not interrupting something, am I?" he raised his eyebrows suggestively. The duo turned red and glared at him. "No, for a matter of fact, I was just leaving" Katie stated and got up to leave.

"But Katie Kat" Travis whined, smirking. "We were in the middle of a date". He was really trying to get on Katie's nerves. And by the looks of it, he was succeeding. "Sorry sweetie" she smiled poisonously. "I have better things to do. Like erase pencil marks from the dictionaries in the library". Burn.

Then there ware meal times. Travis would always send flirtatious winks in Katie's direction, making sure Isler was paying attention. But other than all the fake acting in front of the people, he would also steal her extra muffins or something in secret. try to contain your "awwww"s.

With time, these little things brought the two closer. In fact. Travis had even forgotten why he had asked Katie to be his fake girlfriend in the first place. He should've asked her to be his real one. As soon as this thought entered his brain, he shook it out. He shouldn't be thinking like this. Stupid.

Then he remembered. It was to make some girl; what was her name again; Isler, jealous and be sorry for ever dumping Travis. They seemed to have gotten a little off track. Though Travis sometimes wished that Katie's affection could be real. See, there were those stupid thoughts again.

But Katie made him feel like someone in this world was actually genuinely there for him. All his past girlfriends were just to keep up with his reputation. They truly meant nothing to him. Besides, it's not like they gave a second thought to him after their breakups anyway.

But this girl. She made him want to strangle her and kiss her at the same time. The things she'd say and do would either infuriate him or seem incredibly enduring and cute to him. Nowadays, it was more of the enduring and cute part.

Like there was this one time. Katie was on her knees in the fields digging the soil or something when Travis stopped bye to say hello. She told him to come down and then gently placed something into his hand. "I made this for you. Thought you might like it". It was a delicately beautiful daisy chain. "Boys don't wear jewellery" was all he said, not knowing what else to say.

Then there was that time at the creek when they were just sitting near the water. There was a bee buzzing on top of their heads and it was driving him crazy. "Bzzz Bzzz Bzzz " it was practically calling him to come and swatt it.

So Travis, being the guy he is, did just that. Let's just say that the bee did not appreciate this thoughtful gesture. It got pretty mad, if you ask me, and went and stung Travis's lower arm hard, causing him to yelp. Satisfied with its work, the bee decided to leave.

But poor Travis here was sitting there with a painful sting on his arm and a worried Katie by his side. She tried putting ointment on it, but he stopped her with a small scream of pain. She didn't like seeing him in pain, so she turned to her last resort.

At the place where he had been stung, and there was a big red bump forming, she softly pressed her lips to that area and then, trying to hide her blush or she'd never hear the end of it, asked him, "does that feel better now?". Travis was frozen in place, but suddenly, it didn't sting so much.

All the snarky comments she'd pass about him and all the insults she'd throw his way. Travis would never admit it, but they were pretty good.

Like the time when she told him that if there was a zombie apocalypse and the zombies came looking for people's brains, he'd have nothing to worry about. Travis had never felt more attracted to a girl then he was then.

Like the time when the two were alone and Travis had just played a prank on Katie and she was NOT a happy camper. Travis started complaining that she had no sense of humour and needed to loosen up a bit.

The next day, Travis woke up with red lips. No, Katie had not decided to spend the night with him and make out. Cuz that's totally disgusting. She had some how managed to paint his lips with permanent red lipstick from the Aphrodite cabin.

"Katie!" Travis shouted. "Yes" she appeared with an angelic look on her face. "How?" He really wanted to know how this girl was able to singlehandedly prank the prankster king (as he called himself).

"You told me to loosen up a bit, remember. And this is my way of doing what you asked me to. I actually listened to you for once, Stoll, and now you're mad at me?" He really badly wanted to wipe that victorious grin off of her stupidly beautiful face. Wait...what? Then he smirked. "I guess I'm rubbing off on you, Kates. Well done"

As for Katie, she had a completely new perspective of Travis now. Once you got past the jerky part of him, he wasn't that bad. Sure, he was all loud and rude and obnoxious. But at times, he could be so sweet and sensitive that Katie didn't even know if he was the same guy.

For instance, the time that she nearly drowned. You should've seen him. His face showed actual care and worry; something that made Katie's insides glow because she knew that at least this much was real.

Then there was the time when Katie had slept in. She must have been really tired because she slept all through breakfast. So Travis decided he would check up on her and visited her with a tray of some pancakes with whipped cream and maple syrup.

"Knock knock" he said softly outside the Demeter cabin and stepped in to see a tired Katie with bags under her red eyes. "Oh, god, did I sleep through all of breakfast!" She exclaimed and quickly started to get up.

"No need to get up. Chiron said you can smoother first class, lucky thing" Travis assured her. "Besides" he added. "Thought you might be hungry so I brought you breakfast" he motioned to the pancakes.

Katie's looked at him in shock, but dug in. "You know, you can be really sweet when you want to" she told him. "Well it is my duty, as your fake boyfriend. And I didn't want my girlfriend to look horrible in public, so I thought pancakes might help with your appearance." And he also managed to ruin the moment.

Another time was during the flu season . There was a stomach bug going around. Travis seemed to be immune to diseases, but Katie eventually caught on. And it was bad.

She had come to training that morning with something off about her. Other than the fact that she couldn't stand straight. She was too tired. "You okay" Travis asked her, concerned. "Mm fine" she replied weakly.

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow. "You don't look fine. Katie I think you should go back to your cabin and rest. Chiron won't mind you missing one day of training." But she refused and carried on. Katie's stubbornness was one of Travis's favourite qualities in her, even if it wasn't good for her at times.

Like now. She was trying to keep her balance while holding a sword and she finally gave in, collapsing. Travis rushed forward and picked her up bridal style, taking her to the infirmary. Sadly, he was made to leave and told that he could see her later.

Travis had to wait all day to see her. When she wasn't in the infirmary, he asked one of her half siblings . "She's a bit under the weather. Lying in the cabin" Jake replied. So he did the obvious. Carried on with his day and pranked the Apollo cabin. I'm kidding. He wasn't that uncaring.

He went straight to the Demeter cabin once again, only to see a terrible sight. Katie was in her bed with blankets tightly wrapped around her. Her eyes were red, nose and cheek tinted pink (and it was not a blush) and her face deathly pale.

"Katie" he started, lost for words. "You look...terrible". Being the person he is, of course he just went ahead and spoke his mind. "Thanks Travis. Way to make girl feel better" she said sarcastically. "I feel terrible".

"Which part of you feels terrible" he prodded her. "My nose is half blocked and half sore from rubbing it so much. My eyes sting for some reason. My throat aches as if its being constantly scratched with a pitchfork. Oh yeah, and I feel like I'm gonna throw up".

Travis quickly took one step back. "Okay, but if you want to throw up, do it in that bucket". This earned a glare from Katie. "Sorry" he said sheepishly. "I should be more helpful. So today, Katie dearest, it's your lucky day cuz in going to be your personal nurse until you get better. I'll stay by your side all day until you recover"

Katie make groaned. "Great. Now I'll be stuck with you all day? Better recover faster then". Travis mocked hurt, putting a hand on his chest. "Offense taken. I'm here, offering to help you get better Kates. And this is how you repay me?"

She rolled her eyes at his theatrics. "So, nurse, don't you have to wear a white dress and that cap thingy. I'll also need to see your licence and resume. Can't have an inexperienced amateur looking after me now can I " she said to him, feigning seriousness.

"Ha ha Katie. You're just hilarious. See me rolling on the floor, unable to contain my laughter" Travis said sarcastically. Then Katie turned serious, for real. "I really appreciate you volunteering to take care of me, but you don't have to. I'm a big girl and I can handle myself".

"Yeah" Travis replied. "A sick 'big girl'. Besides, it's my job to tend to you when your sick. You know, as your friend". But on the inside he was screaming 'No! I want to be more than friends. For real' . "Oh, so we're friends now. I don't remember agreeing to that" she joked. "Too bad, cuz I'm staying here as your friend" he emphasized on the word, "whether you like it or not".

"So" he began. "Step one of helping you get better is; first of all, getting your insides nice and warm" he left the cabin and came back five minutes later with steaming hot soup.

Katie sat up and held her hands out so he could give it to her, but he stopped her. "Its part of the whole nurse package that I feed you the soup" he declared. "Travis" she said, "i thinking can handle a bowl of soup on my own". "No can do. I have to perform my job properly" he insisted.

"Say aah" he said as if speaking to a toddler. "Here comes the choo choo train" Katie gave him an 'are you serious' look. "Fine" he said. "You don't like trains? Then here comes the airplane". Katie sighed and opened her mouth, slowly drinking the soup. She could not believe this boy. It was actually adorable what he was doing for her.

Next, nurse Travis made her take a nap while he secretly planned out his next prank. Protesting was useless. When she woke up, he gave her food first, then, a spoon of the cough syrup Will Solace had left for her, as well as medicine for the flu. The last thing was a tablet for her stomach bug.

"Hey nurse Travis" Katie called. "Are you sure that's all the medicine. I think you forgot to give me every other medicine in existence" she said sarcastically. "Now now" Travis wagged his finger at her. "If you don't have your medicines you don't get better and then you can't go out and play".

"I'm sick. Not a four year old idiot" Katie dead planned. He chuckled but ignored her. "Guess what. Since you've been such a good little four year old idiot, mind your language little girl, I'll even read you a bedtime story. But you have to go to sleep afterwards." Katie glared at him but couldn't hold her glare for long. His voice was so sweet and gentle that it was practically hypnotizing her.

"Aww, i knew you'd soften up to me Kates" Travis said, switching to his normal self for a second, after seeing the glare leave her face. He sat down beside her and opened a dusty old book. "Since you're such a big girl, I'll even read you an adult book".

"I'm surprised you can even read" Katie muttered. "Hey" Travis said, unintentionally dropping his character. "I'll have you know that I'm a very excellent reader. I just don't like to read". He started the book. "Call me Ishmael...".(three guesses to which book it was)

But when he looked over to Katie, she was already asleep. She looked so peaceful. Please, dear reader, excuse the Clicheness to come. Or shield your eyes.

Her strawberry blonde hair were spread in a mess on the pillow, but to Travis it looked like a halo around her head. Her cheeks were still pink, and her heart shaped face had regained some of its colour.

To Travis she was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. He leaned forward and ever so softly pressed the lightest kiss to her cheek. Maybe next time it wouldn't be so much on the cheek. It better or me and all the tratie fans will hunt him down.

See. Moments, big or small, were what brought the two closer together. It was a lot easier to get to know some on once you started fake dating them. Well, that was the case with these two anyway. Travis wasn't such a jerk and Katie wasn't so uptight all the time after all.

Things finally started happening at the fourth of July fireworks nigh time picnic. All the campers were invited and Travis obviously asked Katie to be his date. This was the day they would really act it up with their relationship. Travis would get Isler back, to dump her himself, and Katie could be on her way.

Of course, neither of them wanted this. Katie thought that Travis was still only doing this for the plan and Travis thought that Katie still wanted to be done with him after the plan. And I thought about jumping into the story and slapping the two out of obviousness. Oh well.

"Make sure to dress up for this" Travis told Katie. "I want to make sure Isler sees". Even though he said this so half heartedly, Katie didn't notice because she was too busy being sad about the fact that she and Travis would never have something real. "Mm kay" was her half hearted reply. But he didn't notice either.

Travis asked her to wear something nice. Katie decided that she was going to take the big step. Something she would've never have dreamt of doing before, but now, she was gonna go for it.

On the day of the event, three hours before it a started because this could take a while, she was standing in front of the Aphrodite cabin. "Drew" she took a deep breath. "I need your help". "Sweetie" Drew smirked. "I've been waiting a long time for this. Come on in."

Sure, Drew was a biscuit. But that didn't mean she wasn't the best at giving makeovers. Besides, Katie had no personal feud with her, so she'd be fine. Katie didn't know why she was so eager to look good today. She didn't know if it it was for Travis, or to impress him.

Dear reader, do not judge me for what I'm going to write next. I'm a girl and even though I'm not really into this makeover business, I still want to describe Katie's experience.

The fist thing they did (they being Drew and two other Aphrodite girls, Lacey and Tori) was make her take a long strawberry scented bubble bath. Once she smelt like a strawberries and cream cupcake, they moved her or the mani pedi station.

Lacey and Tori filed her nails perfectly, applying a milkshake coloured pink nail polish to them. This was literally the first time Katie had worn something other than dirt on her fingers.

Katie was then moved to the dressing area where Drew had an outfit already picked out for her. A white off shoulder top with a flowy mint mini skirt and pastel pink flats. Normally Katie would never wear anything like this. It was too revealing for her taste. But today was an exception.

To complement her outfit was chunky mint necklace on her bare neck and tiny gold roses with a tiny rhinestone in the middle on her ears. Her arms were adorned with mint, pink and white bracelets and bangles of different sizes and styles.

Lacey and Tori continued to move her to in front of one of the many many mirrors in the cabin and made her sit on the chair in front of it. Here they would make her hair. They pulled out the hair styling instruments and attacked Katie with them.

Katie's hair had already been washed, so Lacey blow dried it while Tori straightened it. Then Lacey curled the ends of Katie's now straight hair, just to give it a 'flirty n flowy' final look. Well that's what she told Katie anyway.

Drew then entered the room with a bag full of make up. That's where Katie drew (haha, unintended pun) the line. "No make up" she said stubbornly . "But sweetie, you have so much potential. And it'll all go to waste" Drew pouted, trying to convince her.

"I don't want to make it look like I'm trying to look good" Katie said. "And if I suddenly wore make up, which I never ever wear, it would be a little suspicious. Besides, you guys have done such a fabulous job already".

With a little more sweet talk, Katie convinced Drew to put the make-up bag away. She did, however, insist on applying some light sparkly lip gloss to Katie's lips. To add a little sparkle as a finishing touch to her new look.

The three half sisters stood back to admire their work. "Its beautiful" tori said in a dreamy voice, mocking wiping a tee from her face. "Good job girls" Drew high fived them.

"Travis won't be the only one unable to keep his eyes off you tonight" she told Katie mischievously as the said girl blushed. "You know Drew, you're a pretty okay personality. People judge you too quickly" and saying that, she left.

Katie told Travis to set up their picnic blanket before hand so that they'd get a good seat. And she told him to me sure he set up somewhere near Isler, so that she saw the two of them together.

Katie was really trying to be enthusiastic. For Travis's sake. But after spending so much time with this idiot, she had developed feelings for him, and they wouldn't go away, no matter how much she tried. So helping the guy you like get another girl wasn't exactly something a girl would want to do.

So now, Katie pushed her feelings aside and put a brave face on. She wanted what was best for Travis. Besides, she only agreed to this plan in the first place so that she'd never have to deal with his annoying butt again. She tried to tell herself that this was what she wanted. But if she couldn't even convince herself, who was she kidding.

Shaking these useless thoughts out of her head, Katie walked towards the beach area, which is where the campers were to set up their blankets. The place was already bustling with campers. She was practically the last one to arrive.

"Hey Conner, check this out. You can actually hear the sea in these seashells" Travis told his twin. But Conner wasn't paying attention. He was too busy staring ahead. Just like very other guy. "Dude" he said to Travis. "Look up"

Drew wasn't wrong when she told Katie that she'd attract attention. Almost every guy's jaw had dropped at the sight of her. Usually, Katie would go around wearing baggy t-shirts and overalls or something. But This outfit. It really showed her curves and hugged her figure perfectly.

It also helped that some of her skin was exposed at her neck and shoulders thanks to the off shoulder top. Her long tanned legs were visible for the first time, and boy did she get some wolf whistles from the guys. And by some, I mean a lot. She could also feel Isler's cold hard glare on her and she shivered.

Then she took a deep breath, ignored the jealous cow, and confidently walked past everyone to Travis, who was still gaping. "Too much?" She asked worriedly. Travis seemed to snap out of his daze and quickly said, "No. Not at all. But Kates, you just-you look just...wow!" he struggled to find the right words.

He got to look at her face more closely as she came and sat down next to him. "And you're not even wearing make up. What I mean to say is that you look really good" he tried to regain his composure. "I'd call you hot" he continued, his cockiness returning, "but you'd probably kill me". "You know me Stoll" she laughed.

During the fireworks, Travis would sneak glances in Katie's direction and glare at any other guy who dared to do the same. They acted all couple-y. Travis put his arm around her bare shoulders and she rest her head on his chest. Both of them so badly wanted it to be real. But alas, they were too scared to say so.

"Is Isler looking" Katie asked softly. "Yep. And man that girl can glare. Katie, if looks could kill, you'd be dead right now" he tried for a smirk in reply. "Good" she said shortly. "It won't be long before her green monster (aka jealousy) starts acting up". She said this so sadly that even a Travis nearly caught on her tone this time. But he just brushed it aside. Stupid Stoll.

The fireworks were coming to an end now. Isler disappeared for a few minutes and when she got back, Travis decided to take the final step. Even though it was more because he wanted to finally kiss Katie more than make Isler jealous.

"Katie Kat" he whispered. "Its time for the final move" Katie knew what this meant. Campers were starting to leave and now it was just her, Travis, Isler and her date, and a few others. He stared into Katie's spring green eyes and slowly leaned forward, about to -

Let me just stop you right there. No the two did not kiss, realise their feelings, and live happily ever after. The story does not end here. Mainly because I want to do at least 6500 words. But never mind that.

It's not that Katie didn't want to kiss him. Believe me, it was the only thing she could think about recently. But this was her first kiss. She didn't want it to be forced or just to make some girl jealous. She wanted it to be magical. How was she supposed to know that Travis didn't want it to be about Isler any more either.

So just as their lips were about to meet, she turned her face slightly, and his lips pressed against her cheek. That wasn't supposed to happen. He looked a little hurt but more confused.

"I'm sorry" she whispered so that only he could hear her. "I'm so sorry. But I don't want to have my first kiss like this". He nodded in understanding and settled on hugging her instead. If only she knew how much he wanted this to be real too.

Their physical contact, the only physical contact they'd had, was cut short by a low growling sound. So, reader, have you ever seen a hell hound? I thought not. They don't exactly exist in our world.

Well this one was twice the campers' size with sharp fang like teeth sticking out of its mouth and...pink eyes? Okay, that's a not worrying. Hell hounds were not supposed to have Barbie-pink eyes. What the...?

Well, pink eyes or not, it was still a hell hound. And it was still dangerous. And it was still huge. And it was still STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM! The remaining campers had gone and it was just Travis, Katie and Isler now.

The hell hound was closest to Isler, but it ran past her and, before anyone knew what was happening, lunged at Katie. The next moment will, again, be extremely and utterly cliche. Please excuse me while I write about this moment in my corner of shame.

"KATIE!" Travis yelled as the hell hound lunged for her. "WATCH OUT!" And with that, he pushed Katie out of the way and the hell hound landed on him, knocking him to the ground with a thud. Ouch. That has gotta hurt.

The hell hound thought it hadn't caused enough pain or damage to this boy, so it scratched him with its killer talons. And I mean literally killer. As in they could _kill_ you.

Still not satisfied with its work, the hell hound sunk its fangs into Travis as the boy's eyes went wide and he contained a scream of pain. It was then noticed that the hell hounds eyes weren't pink anymore. They were blood red now.

It was about to perform a few more tricks on Travis, but Katie sunk her knife in to it and it disintegrated into that black-or whatever colour its supposed to be-monster dust.

Katie knelt down beside Travis, who had broad leaking through his shirt. "Travis" she said in a panicked voice. She quickly unbuttoned his ripped shirt and let out a sharp gasp. And it wasn't only because of the toned six pack he had. There were more important things to gasp about.

There was an ugly gash running from the part of his chest dangerously close to his heart, all the way down to his stomach. It looked so deep that Katie thought if it was just a little deeper, it would have penetrated through him. That hell hound had some scratching skills.

Then she noticed his shoulder, which is where the hell hound sunk its fangs into him. "Travis" she said. "Travis hold on. You're gonna be fine. We'll fix you" she was on the verge of tears now and her breathing was shaky. "Travis. L-listen to me. S-say something. Please" she pleaded.

"It hurts" he whispered hoarsely. "So much,. It's hurting so much. We both know I'm not going to make it through this one". Tears were know rolling down Katie's cheeks like a waterfall. Which is what crying technically is. Water fall ing down your face.

"No" told him confidently. "You're gonna make it through this whether you like it or not". Then she remembered Isler. "Go get Will and tell him its an emergency" she tol the pale faced girl who ran to get him.

Looking at the gash on Travis's chest again, she crumbled. "Come on. You have to make it. I need you Travis. Don't leave me. Stay with m-" her sentence was cut short as Will appeared.

When he saw Travis, his face went pale. "This is really bad. I don't know if I can fix this. Look at how deep that gash is." Will rambled on and quickly got his healing material out. "Here. Give him ambrosia" Katie took it from him and fed it to Travis, tears still rolling down her face, as Will tried to bandage Travis up. But the blood just seeped through the bandages too.

When the ambrosia didn't do much repair either, he turned to Katie. "He's fading fast" he said seriously. "It's not in my power to fix this. If we give him more ambrosia, it might burn him".

"Gods above. Mom, Hermes, Apollo. Please help him. Hermes. If you care about your son, now would be the right time to show up. Please" Katie prayed to every god she could think of. "Please".

She turned back to Travis and took his hand in hers, squeezing it softly. "You're going to be alright" she told him. "You have to" she was on the verge of breaking down. "Katie" he said gently. "Don't waste so many tears on me. Most demigods don't live this long. I was lucky to live till seventeen. And even luckier to have spent these last few months with you "

"But if I'm going to die, there's one thing that I need you to know. I lo-" his sentence was cut short as his eyes rolled to the back of his land eyelids fluttered shut. Now Katie was full on crying, sobs escaping her throat.

She couldn't believe it. This boy- the one she had wanted to get out of her life forever, the one who annoyed the life out of her and just couldn't seem to mind his own business when it came to her.

But he was also the boy who had proved that he could be the sweetest and most considerate at times. This boy who had managed to worm his way into her heart and stay there, despite her efforts of trying to get him out.

She couldn't lose him. "Hermes" she said. "If you love him, you'll come and save him. He needs you. Please." Katie continued to pray with all her heart. Suddenly, all of their past adventures together came crashing down on her-all the memories they had made- and she couldn't control her sobs.

"I can help him" a familiar voice said. She looked up to see the god of travellers and thieves staring down at his son with a worried expression. "Travis" he said groaning. "How do manage to get yourself into these sort of situations".

He reached down and touched Travis, whose head was in Katie's lap. "He's not gone yet. I can still save him". Katie looked the god with hopeful eyes.

Hermes took some sort of powder out of nowhere and sprinkled it over Travis. With that, she was gone before Katie could thank him. Then Travis opened his big blue eyes and saw Katie with her tear streaked face and red eyes.

"Katie" he said softly and her eyes widened at the sight of him. There wasn't single a sign of any injuries on him. Not even a scratch. They were completely gonna and healed. Hermes had even restored his shirt. Tears filled her eyes as she threw her arms around him and hurried her head in his chest.

But before she could say anything, Isler came up to them. "I'm sorry" she said. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. The hell hound just got out of control and I couldn't do anything and I'm so sorry".

That's when Katie and Travis understood the hell hounds barbie-pink eyes. Isler's jealously had really acted up. Enough to cause her to put a hell hound under a spell and make it attack Katie. She put it under a spell so that it would be controllable and not kill Katie, but she wasn't able to master the spell and it went haywire.

"You did this" Katie asked gently. She was angry, probably even furious, but she knew that some people would do anything for love. "Well I'm sorry the hell hound didn't do what you wanted it to, but I forgive you. I know you didn't mean to hurt anyone seriously". Hearing this, Isler smiled at Katie with gratitude and walked away.

Now that she and travis were alone, like finally, she turned to him. "You idiotic imbecilic stupid reckless Stoll. What were you thinking!" Travis laughed lightly at her string of insults. "I was doing my job as your fake boyfriend and as your friend. Protecting you"

"But" her eyes softened and her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "You could've died. I would never forgive myself if I knew you died to protect me" and she threw her arms around him again, hugging him like her life depended on it. He wrapped his arms around her just as tightly.

"And I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I knew that I let a hell hound kill you" he said softly. "Katie, I have to tell you something. This whole fake relation thing between us, I can't deal with this anymore. It's not about Isler now. It stopped being an out her a long time ago" he started.

"After all this time with you, I've realised something. I hate being your fake boyfriend. I hate knowing that all this affection is fake. I want it to be real. You're killing me. Every time I see you, I want to kiss you senseless and hold you and know that you're mine.

And then today, you're wearing that and looking like this and I'm really trying to control myself but I can't. Katie, I don't want to be your fake boyfriend anymore. I can't handle this. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. If i were to die and your face was the last thing I saw I'd even be happy with death".

He looked at her to see her smiling and her eyes shining. Then he realised what he said and blushed madly. Trying to correct himself, he quickly rambled, "sorry, I wasn't thinking when I said th-" he was cut off by Katie. "Travis" she said, still smiling. "I love you. For real"

He froze and his eyes widened. Then he relaxed and leaned closer to her. Their faces were merely inches apart from each other and all he could smell was her sweet strawberry scent. It was kinda really distracting.

"I love you" he said back to her. Before she knew what was happening, his lips were on hers and oh-Oh. The feeling was actually magical. Katie felt like part of a fairytale or something.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and she tangled her fingers in his hair. His lips were warm an soft and she never wanted to let go, but they were both human and sadly, they needed air. So they broke apart and rested their foreheads on each other, their noses still touching.

Then Katie smiled and Travis grinned. "You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that for. I practically dreamed about it almost every night". "I'm sure you did " she smirked.

Then asked softly. "Did you really mean every thing you just said". Travis smiled now. Not grinned. Not smirked. Smiled. "Every word. Katie Gardener, will you accept the great honour of being my girlfriend".

She rolled her eyes. "You know Travis, you have a knack for ruining heartfelt moments. But I love that about you, so yes. I accept this 'honour' ". When she said yes, Travis and Katie realised that fake just got real


End file.
